**1. Introduction**

It is intriguing remarkable the metabolomics of some biomass such as pentose or hexose derivatives. The 2-deoxyribose is the only carbohydrate selected to integrate the most important macromolecule of living organisms; DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid. It is also a component of riboflavin or vitamin B2 and the energetic main coins, ATP and similar coenzyme structures. However, the occurrence in nature of its mother molecule, ribose, is not so common. Crotonoside or isoguanosine, an exotic ribonucleotide is present in croton bean (*Croton tiglium*) and in the wings of the butterfly *Prioneris thestylis* [1]. Its beneficial action against tumors was demonstrated. Ribosyl units in polysaccharides are quite rare and one example is the capsular polymers from some pathogenic bacteria. These short comments lash out us to a pertinent question: why deoxyribose-built DNA and ribose-built RNA (mRNA, rRNA and tRNA) molecules? The answer is rather complex considering the consequences from this single difference: vital metabolic roles, chemical stability, rate of degradability facing ribonucleases and deoxyribonucleases, etc.

follow further biosynthetic modifications to carry out various specific functions in plants and other organisms. Examples include structural polymers such as cellulose, chitin, pectin and storage polysaccharides such as starch and inulin. Because of their huge structural diversity (e.g. pentoses, hexoses, aldo- and keto-sugars, deoxi-derivatives like fucose and rhamnose, D and L-configurations, other glycosidic type linkages other than 1,4) and functional diversity, polysaccharides and monosaccharides are expected to play a progressive role in industry, either in their native or chemically modified forms. As some polysaccharides (such as cellulose, starch and chitin) are produced on a very large scale in nature, the interest in their hydrolytically or non-hydrolytically processing is strongly associated with a variety of applications

Sugar Versatility—Chemical and Bioprocessing of Many Phytobiomass Polysaccharides Using…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.75229

243

As one stringent example, considering how much purified cellulose (e.g. from textile weaving yarns) is simply discarded: a large-size textile factory in a daily operation with cotton treads can accumulate as much as >1.5 ton of cotton dust waste (CDW) around the loom machines. The collected cellulosic residue may be just burned to generate vapor and additional energy supply thus aggravating the local greenhouse environmental problem. We are partially alleviating this situation by, through one pot reaction, transforming the mercerized cellulose residue in ionic forms (CDW-Carboxymethyl and CDW-diethylaminoethyl positively charged—DEAE+) and efficiently utilizing these insoluble ion exchange matrices to, respectively, sequester/remediate a large volume of residual cationic and anionic dyes from

This chapter will cover two major polysaccharides, cellulose and starch, and their deconstruction from different substrates with emphasis to the advantages and wide applicability of aqueous moderately thermopressurized phosphoric acid pretreatment for bioethanol produc-

Brazilian agribusiness is the strongest arm of its whole economy. The contribution from sugarcane business and derived products is outstanding for local consumption and exportation, financial incomes and, in our view, overcoming concurrent activities such as soy, corn and

easily splitable into their valuable counterparts: glucose and fructose. These monosaccharides are equally and promptly hydrolyzed into the same monosaccharides by *Saccharomyces* spp. hyperactive yeast cell wall-bound invertase, capable to quickly pave the metabolic pathway

Brazil, secondly followed by India, is the world leading processing sugarcane to first generation ethanol, table sugar and other goods as corroborated by its huge year-crop (2016–2017) in the range of 657.2 million tons with a final production of 11 billion liters of anhydrous ethanol and around 39 million ton of table sugar (sucrose) [9]. It is a good time to focus on the Brazilian sustainability scenario and actors: economically feasibility, environmentally correctness and

of sugarcane juice may contain around 200 kg of sucrose,

tion as for other applications such as oligosaccharides with nutraceutical properties.

**2. Brazilian sugarcane industry in brief and environmental issues**

of this precious aldo- and keto-aldoses to ethanol and other useful fuels.

in the food, paper, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and biofuel industries.

the factory wastewater [7, 8].

coffee commodities. About 1 m<sup>3</sup>

Conversely, glucose is the most widespread carbohydrate and the main energetic fuel in any organism besides the homocomponent in the most common nature polysaccharides such as starch (plants, molds, bacteria and microalgae) and glycogen (mammals); while 2-deoxyglucose inhibits organisms growth blocking glycolysis, although some controversial benefits for the treatment of epilepsy and also has been proposed as therapeutic tool for some types of cancer [2].

Monosaccharides are the major source of fuel for cell metabolism, bioconversion processes and structural materials [3–5]. D-glucose is the most universalized carbohydrate occurring in the nature under polymerized forms. In these natural polymers, the dominant glycosidic linkage is 1,4 connecting the anhydropyranose residues, as *α* or *β* anomeric configurations as is the respective cases of cellulose and starch. However, besides these examples of homopolyglucoses, glucopyranosyl units may integrate the whole structure of important heteropolymers like glucogalactomannans in conifers or softwood hemicelluloses. Also, worth of mention is that both ionic forms of glucose—glucuronic acid and glucosamine—make portion of other important natural polymers such as acidic xylans from hardwoods and chitin from marine crustacean and even aquatic mold cell walls.

Disaccharides are produced naturally and in abundance in plants such as sugar beet and sugarcane. Sugarcane comprises several grass species of the genus *Saccharum* chosen as feedstock in tropical and subtropical countries to produce sucrose which in turn can be fermented to produce bioethanol, notably by the Brazilian sugarcane industry. The remaining sugarcane biomass (bagasse and straw) can be burnt to electricity production, left in the field (straw) for agronomic purposes, or, more recently, applied in industrial scale for the production of bioethanol after deconstruction by a pretreatment of choice followed by enzymatic hydrolysis and a fermentation step.

Polysaccharides, as natural polymers, are by far the most renewable resource in the Earth [6]. They are the products of a natural carbon-capture process, namely photosynthesis, that follow further biosynthetic modifications to carry out various specific functions in plants and other organisms. Examples include structural polymers such as cellulose, chitin, pectin and storage polysaccharides such as starch and inulin. Because of their huge structural diversity (e.g. pentoses, hexoses, aldo- and keto-sugars, deoxi-derivatives like fucose and rhamnose, D and L-configurations, other glycosidic type linkages other than 1,4) and functional diversity, polysaccharides and monosaccharides are expected to play a progressive role in industry, either in their native or chemically modified forms. As some polysaccharides (such as cellulose, starch and chitin) are produced on a very large scale in nature, the interest in their hydrolytically or non-hydrolytically processing is strongly associated with a variety of applications in the food, paper, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and biofuel industries.

**1. Introduction**

242 Sugarcane - Technology and Research

nucleases and deoxyribonucleases, etc.

marine crustacean and even aquatic mold cell walls.

and a fermentation step.

It is intriguing remarkable the metabolomics of some biomass such as pentose or hexose derivatives. The 2-deoxyribose is the only carbohydrate selected to integrate the most important macromolecule of living organisms; DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid. It is also a component of riboflavin or vitamin B2 and the energetic main coins, ATP and similar coenzyme structures. However, the occurrence in nature of its mother molecule, ribose, is not so common. Crotonoside or isoguanosine, an exotic ribonucleotide is present in croton bean (*Croton tiglium*) and in the wings of the butterfly *Prioneris thestylis* [1]. Its beneficial action against tumors was demonstrated. Ribosyl units in polysaccharides are quite rare and one example is the capsular polymers from some pathogenic bacteria. These short comments lash out us to a pertinent question: why deoxyribose-built DNA and ribose-built RNA (mRNA, rRNA and tRNA) molecules? The answer is rather complex considering the consequences from this single difference: vital metabolic roles, chemical stability, rate of degradability facing ribo-

Conversely, glucose is the most widespread carbohydrate and the main energetic fuel in any organism besides the homocomponent in the most common nature polysaccharides such as starch (plants, molds, bacteria and microalgae) and glycogen (mammals); while 2-deoxyglucose inhibits organisms growth blocking glycolysis, although some controversial benefits for the treatment of epilepsy and also has been proposed as therapeutic tool for some types of cancer [2].

Monosaccharides are the major source of fuel for cell metabolism, bioconversion processes and structural materials [3–5]. D-glucose is the most universalized carbohydrate occurring in the nature under polymerized forms. In these natural polymers, the dominant glycosidic linkage is 1,4 connecting the anhydropyranose residues, as *α* or *β* anomeric configurations as is the respective cases of cellulose and starch. However, besides these examples of homopolyglucoses, glucopyranosyl units may integrate the whole structure of important heteropolymers like glucogalactomannans in conifers or softwood hemicelluloses. Also, worth of mention is that both ionic forms of glucose—glucuronic acid and glucosamine—make portion of other important natural polymers such as acidic xylans from hardwoods and chitin from

Disaccharides are produced naturally and in abundance in plants such as sugar beet and sugarcane. Sugarcane comprises several grass species of the genus *Saccharum* chosen as feedstock in tropical and subtropical countries to produce sucrose which in turn can be fermented to produce bioethanol, notably by the Brazilian sugarcane industry. The remaining sugarcane biomass (bagasse and straw) can be burnt to electricity production, left in the field (straw) for agronomic purposes, or, more recently, applied in industrial scale for the production of bioethanol after deconstruction by a pretreatment of choice followed by enzymatic hydrolysis

Polysaccharides, as natural polymers, are by far the most renewable resource in the Earth [6]. They are the products of a natural carbon-capture process, namely photosynthesis, that As one stringent example, considering how much purified cellulose (e.g. from textile weaving yarns) is simply discarded: a large-size textile factory in a daily operation with cotton treads can accumulate as much as >1.5 ton of cotton dust waste (CDW) around the loom machines. The collected cellulosic residue may be just burned to generate vapor and additional energy supply thus aggravating the local greenhouse environmental problem. We are partially alleviating this situation by, through one pot reaction, transforming the mercerized cellulose residue in ionic forms (CDW-Carboxymethyl and CDW-diethylaminoethyl positively charged—DEAE+) and efficiently utilizing these insoluble ion exchange matrices to, respectively, sequester/remediate a large volume of residual cationic and anionic dyes from the factory wastewater [7, 8].

This chapter will cover two major polysaccharides, cellulose and starch, and their deconstruction from different substrates with emphasis to the advantages and wide applicability of aqueous moderately thermopressurized phosphoric acid pretreatment for bioethanol production as for other applications such as oligosaccharides with nutraceutical properties.
